Signature-opening device.



C. D. CURRY & F. W. EWALD.

SIGNATURE OPENING DEVICE,

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24.1914.

Patented Oct. 24, 1916.

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SIGNATURE OPENING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24, 19 14.

Patented Oct. 24, 1916.

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C. D. CURRY & F. W. EWALD.

SIGNATURE OPENING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2'4. 1914.

Patented Oct. 24, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

C. D. CURRY & F. W. EWALD.

SIGNATURE OPENING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24.1914.

Patented Oct. 24, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

E1) S mar m OFFICE.

eLAun n. CURRY, or MAssILLoN, onto, AND rnEnnnIcK w. EWALD, on NEW YORK,

N. Y., ASSIGNORS, BY DIRECT AND MEs E ASSIGNMENTS, TO AMERICAN ASSEM-BLING MACHINE COMPANY, A CORPOBATION or DELAWARE.

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Application filed July 24, 1914. Serial Nb. 852,780.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CLAUD D. CURRY and FREDERICK W. EWALD, bothcitizens of the United States, and residents, respectively, ofMassillon, county of Stark, and State of Ohio, and of the borough ofBrooklyn, New York city, county of Kings, and State. of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Signature- OpeningDevices, of'which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in opening devices for foldedpaper sections and is particularly adapted for use in connection withpaper associating machines of the type shown in the patent to Claud D.Qurry, #1,117,000, Nov. 10, 1914. In the device shown in the patent,opening or spreading devices were employed which consisted principallyof two parallel endless chains carrying spreader members arranged totravel between the plies of a partially opened paper section. Thisstructure was found in practice to be more or less cumbersome, and anobject ofthis invention is to provide paper section opening or spreadingmeans which will be more simple in construction and capable of morerapid operation.

A feature of the invention is the provision of opening mechanismincluding needle boxes for initially opening the paper section, aseparating finger for further opening the section, and a pivotedspreading device arranged to be swung into the partially opened sectionto complete the opening thereof for the reception of an insert.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the preferredembodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the deviceshown in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow 2 in Fig. 1; Fig.3 is a transverse vertical sectional View of the opening mechanism takensubstantially on the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a plan View showingone of the needle boxes carried by the opening members; Fig. 5 is afront elevation of a needle box looking in the direction of the arrow 5of Fig. 4.

In- Figs. 1 and 2 the numerals 1 and 2 represent the inside lines of aframework in which the mechanism about to be described is mounted.Mounted on the framework 2 is a fixed bracket 3 to which is pivoted at 4a paper section guiding and spreading device 5. The device 5'is made upof two parallel members between which the paper sections pass in theirprogress from a hopper or feeding device overhead into the paper sectionopening or separating mechanism. When a paper section A passesdownwardly through the guiding device 5 it comes to rest preliminary tothe operation of the opening mechanism, upon the paper supports 6,carried by shafts 7 and 8 journaled in the frame 1 and 2. The papersupports 6 are in the form of depending blades and are arranged inpairs, the lower edges of which curve inwardly to meet each other as isshown at 9 in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

In dropping onto the supporting members Patented Oct. 24, 1916.

6 the paper section will enter between two devices 10 and 11 which maybe termed needle boxes and whose function it is to perform the initialopening of the folded paper section. The needle boxes are so located asto engage the paper section near one-end and the free edge, while theremaining end is caught and held between two rotating cone shapedtension rollers .12 and 13L The needle boxes are carried by the openingmembers or frames 14 and 15 which are mounted on hubs 16 and 17 adaptedto rock or oscillate about shafts 18 and 19. On the hubs 16 and 17 areprovided toothed segments 20 which intermesh and by means of which themembers 14 and 15 can be operated in unison. An arm 21, integral withhub 16, is connected through the links 22 with a lateral extension 23 ofthe vertically reciprocating slide 24. A cam roll 25, carried by theslide, is adapted to be engaged motion to the slide and thence to theopening members and needle boxes carried thereby. 1 A bracket 28 mountedon the frame piece 1 is provided with a slideway inwhich the slide 24reciprocates.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5 in which the specific construction of theneedle blocks is illustrated, there is shown at 29 by the cam 26 on thedrive shaft 27 to give 4 a. needle box supporting member which is boltedto the corresponding opening member. Extending laterally from thesupporting member are two arms 30 and 31 provided with guideways 32 and33. Arranged to in yielding engagement with the stationary toreciprocate between the arms and 31 and to engage the guideways 32therein, is the needle box, or carrier," 34 on which the needles 35 aremounted. The needle carrier is reciprocated between the arms 30 throughthe action of a cam 36 carried on'shaft 19 which operates a lever 37which in turn transmits motion to the carrier 34 through the eye bolt 38which is secured to the needle-carrier by the pin 39. The other needlecarrier is driven from a corresponding cam on the shaft 18.

In order to regulate the effective length of the needles necessary forpiercing the plies of the paper section, there is provided a face plate40 adapted to be adjusted with relation to the supporting member 29 onwhich it is mounted. The face plate 40 is provided 'witha' boss 41 whichis..arranged to engage the threaded portion of a bolt 42. The bolt '42has an unthreaded portion which passes through the supporting member 29so that the bolt can be turned freely within the support. A nut 43 atone end prevents longitudinal movement of the bolt. A micrometer head 44fixed to the bolt has a scale adapted to be read in relation to a'mark'45 on the supporting member 29.

When the micrometer head is turned the bolt 42 is rotated, and the faceplate is moved laterally with respect to the needle carrier support.This, as will be obvious, will affect the length of the portions of theneedles which project through the face plate and a means is thusprovided for adjusting the length of the needle projections to accordwith the thickness of the paper sections which are to be operated upon.The face plate slides on the needle block support and is secured byscrews 46 which pass through slots 47 in the guide plate.

The cone-shaped tension rollers 12 and 13, which have been alreadyreferred to, serve to pull the paper section taut and facilitate theopening of the section. The tension roller 18 is journaled in a bearingformed in the end of a fixed bracket 48 carried by the framework 2. Abevel gear 49 meshing with a bevel gear 50 mounted on the shaft 19 isadapted to give rotation to the' tension roller 13 through the shaft 13.The fixed bracket 48-also forms a support at 51 for one end of one oftwo shafts-52 which will 48 already referred toprovides a bearing forthe other of the two shafts 52.

The tension roller 12 is mounted on a bracket 53 pivotally mounted onthe shaft 18. The swinging tension roll 12 is held roller 13 by means ofa spring 54 mounted on a rod' 55 pivoted to the bracket 48 at 56. Anadjustable yielding stop 57 mounted on the fixed bracket 48 limits theinward movement of the swinging bracket 53. The tension roller 12 isdriven from the shaft 18 through shaft 12' and a bevel gear connectioncorresponding to the driving connection for the roller 13.

Carriedby the bracket 56' on the frame 1 is a rock shaft 57 on which ismounted the separating finger, or'blade, 58 adapted to be swung inwardlybetween the plies of the paper section just after they have beeninitially separated by the operation of the needle blocks. The action ofthe separating finger brings about a further separation of the pliespreparatory to the final spreading operation of the'member 5 which willhereinafter be referred to. Motion is transmitted to the rock shaft 57at the proper moment in the sequence of operations, by

means of the arm 59 carried by the rock shaft 57, the link 60, and rockarm 61 pivoted at 62 on bracket 63 which is attached to the frame 1. Arod 64 pivoted to rock arm 61 is adapted to be reciprocated. by cams 64on the drive shaft 27 already referred to.

The construction of the member 5 by which the paper section openingfunction is obtained is as follows: At the end remote from the pivotpoint 4 the device 5 has a pivotal connection with a link 65 which is inturn connected to an arm 66 mounted on a rock shaft 67, journaled in thebracket 56 on the framework 1. Through another arm 68, mounted on therock shaft, a link 69 and a rod 70 adapted to be reciprocated by theoperation of a cam 71 on drive shaft 27, motion can be transmitted torock shaft 67 and thence to the spreading device 5 thereby causing thespreader to rock downwardly about the pivot 4 to spread apart thealready partially separated plies of a. paper section. Carried by thespreader 5 are the fingers 72 which assist in the spreading. orseparating operation, and are arranged in progressively, increasinglengths from the pivot point in order to spread the paper section evenlyand prevent buckling.

In the o eration of the device so far described a olded paper sectionpasses from the hopper, or feeder, down through the guiding device 5 anddrops onto the paper supports 6 which at this point in the operation areclosed as shown in Fig. 3, the opening members, or frames, 14 and 15being at this moment'in their separated position and the cut-awayportion of the tension rollers 12'and 13 being innermost, or adjacenteach o-therto permit the paper to pass into position on the papersupports. When this has taken place the opening members are swung totheir closed position and the folded paper section is caught by theyieldable stops, or holding devices, 73 mounted in the needle blocksthemselves, and the stops, 74 mounted hubs 16 and 17. The paper stopshold the.

through the action of the cams 36 to cause" the needles to pierce therespective plies of the paper section while the tension rollers at theother end of the paper section at the same time seize the section andpull it taut. The next step in the operation of the device is the movingapart of the opening members whereupon the two plies of the folded papersection, which are held by the needles, are initially separated. Thisoperation is immediately followed by the swinging forward of theseparating blade 58 to further separate the plies and prepare them forthe operation of the spreader members 5 which now swing downwardly tomove the plies to their extreme limit of separation. At this point inthe operation a paper section, which is to be inserted within the openedsection, passes down through the spreader member 5 into place within theopened paper section. The cams 36 are so timed as to withdraw theneedles and release the paper section as soon as the insert has beendeposited. At the same time the paper supports 6 are opened to releasethe paper section by the rocking of the shafts and 8 on which 'the papersupporting members are mounted. An arm 76 mounted on the shaft 8 isadapted to be oscillated to rock the shaft 8 by the reciprocatingmovement. of the rod 77 which may be driven in any suitable manner fromthe drive shaft 27 as by means of the arm 93 operated by cam 94 on saidshaft. Intermeshing gear segments 78 carried by the shafts 7 and 8 serveto bring about the operation of the shafts 7 and 8 and consequentlythesupporting members 6 in unison. The rocking of the shafts 7 and 8 opensthe paper supports 6 and allows the stuffed'paper section to passdownwardly therethrough and through guiding members to the finalejecting rolls 79 mounted on the shaft 95.

To assist in the downward movement of the shafts 52 is adapted to beoscillated by the reciprocating movement of the rod 82 through the gears85, 86, and 87, and thence through a flexible shaft 88 from the drivinggear 89 meshing with the gear 90 on shaft 27. When the shafts 52 arerocked to bring the rolls 80 into engagement with the intervening papersection the rotation of the 'rolls, which are driven from the shaft 88.will eject the paper section, the movement of the paper rotating theremaining and idle rolls by frictional engagement there with.

The moving parts are so related and timed that the passage of a papersection through the apparatus is immediately followed by the restorationof the mechanism to a position in readiness to receive and stuff anothersection as will be evident.

What is claimed, is

1. A signature opening device including: means for partially opening afolded paper section, and swinging means having a movement in a planesubstantially parallel to the folds of the section for further openingthe section.

2. A signature opening device including: means for supporting a foldedpaper section in an upright position, means for partially separating thefolds ofthe section, means for further separating said folds, and avertically moving member cooperating with 'said separating' means forstill further separating said folds of the section.

3. A signature opening device including: means for partially opening afolded paper section, and swinging means moving in a plane substantiallyparallel to the folds of the section and toward and from the folded edgethereof for further opening the section.

4. A signature opening device including: means for partially separatingthe plies of a folded signature, oscillating means moving in a planesubstantially parallel to thefolds of the signature for furtherseparating said plies, and oscillating means cooperating with theseparating means for still further separating said plies.

5. A signature opening device including: means for supporting a foldedsignature in an upright position with the folded edge lowermost, meansfor partially opening the signature, and means comprising a separa torblade for further separating the folds of the signature and spreaderbars for still. further separating said folds.

6-. A signature opening device including: means for supporting a papersection in an upright position, means for partially opening the sectionwhile so supported, means moving upwardly and between the partiallyseparated folds of the section for further separating the same, andmeans moving downwardly to cooperate with the upwardly moving means forcompleting the opening of the section. 7. A signature opening deviceincluding:

means for initially and partially opening a folded paper section at acorner thereof, swinging means moving between the partially separatedfolds of said section to separate further the folds thereof, and asecond swinging means to still further separate said folds of thesection.

8. A signature opening device including: means to support a foldedsignature, means to guide the signature to the support, means toinitially and partially open the signature while being supported, meansto further separate the folds of the signature, and means to operatesaid guiding .means to more completely open the signature.

9. A signature opening device comprising: means for supporting a foldedsignature in an...upright position with its fold lowermost, guides inspaced relation to each other above, said supporting means, means forpartly opening said folded signature, and means for causing said guidesto descend to complete the opening of the folded signature.

10. A signature opening device including: means for opening a foldedpaper section at one corner means to enter between the separated foldsat said corner for further separating the folds of the section, andmeans arranged to move on opposite sides of said separating means forstill further spreading said separated folds of the section.

11. A signature opening device including: means for supporting a foldedpaper section in an upright position, means partially opening saidsection while so supported, a

separating blade adapted to swing between the partially separated foldsof the section, means to operate the blade, a pair, ofspaced andparallel bars to normally lie above the opened edge of the section, andmeans for swinging said bars for further separating the folds of thesection.

12. In a signature opening device, means to partially open a foldedpaper section at a corner thereof, and swinging means movablesubstantially parallel with the folds of the section and toward and fromthe folded edge thereof to progressively spread the folds of the sectionfrom the point of initial separation and thereby increase the opening ofthe section. I s

13. A signature opening device including: a pair of opening devices,means to support a folded signature between said opening devices in anupright position-with its folded edge lowermost, means to operate saidopening means to partially separate the folds of the signature at acorner thereof, means for further separating the folds of the signature,and means movable vertically to progressively spread the separatedfolds; of the signature from the point of initial separation and therebystill further open the signature.

14. In a signature opening device, means for supporting a foldedsignature in an upright position with its fold lowermost, guides inspaced relation to each other above said supporting means, means forpartly opening said folded signature at one corner thereof, means forcausing said guides to descend to progressively spread the folds of thesignature from the corner thereof initially opened and thereby increasethe opening of the signature.

15. In a signature opening device, two relatively movable opener frames,means for operating said frames, means for supporting a folded papersection between the frames, means carried by the frames and cooperatingwith each other for partially opening the section, a pivoted separatingblade arranged to move between said frames to further separate the foldsof said partially opened paper section, means for operating theblade,and

means for still further separating the folds of said section.

16. In a signature opening device, two relatively movable opener frames,means for operating said frames, means for supporting a folded papersection between the frames, means carried by the frames above saidsupporting means and cooperating to partially open the section, apivoted separating blade arranged to move between said frames and thefolds of said partially opened paper section, means for operating theblade, and pivoted spreading bars arranged in spaced relation to move onopposite sides of the separating blade and between the separated foldsof the section for further opening the opened paper section, a secondsupport,

spaced and parallel bars pivoted to the second support to swing betweenthe folds for increasing the degree of opening of the section, and meansto operate said blade and bars.

18. In a signature opening device, two relatively movable opener frames,means to support a folded paper section between the frames, means on theframes for partially opening the. section, a support, a blade pivoted tothe support and arranged to move inwardly and upwardly between the foldsof the partially opened paper section for separating the folds thereof,means to operate the blade, a second support, spaced and parallel barspivoted to said second support to swing between the folds of thesection, and means for operating the bars for moving the same downwardlyin cooperation with said blade so that the section will be morecompletely opened.

19. A signature opening device including: movable opener frames, pairsof movable guides adapted to form a support for a folded paper sectionbetween the opener frames, intermeshing sectors for swinging the guidesin unison and in opposite directions, means carried by the frames forpartially opening the section, means for more completely opening thesection, and means to impart motion to one of said sectors whereby saidguides will open so as to deliver the section.

20. In a signature opening device, means to support 'a folded signature,pivoted frames arranged on opposite sides of the supporting means,ejecting rollers for ejecting the signature from the support, and

means for moving said frames toward and away from each other to engageand open the paper section. I

21., In a signature opening device, a movable support for a foldedsignature, means for moving the support to release the signature, framesarranged to move on opposite sides of the support, ejecting rollersjournaled in the frames to engage said signature for ejecting the same,means for imparting motion to the rollers, and means for swinging saidframes toward and away from each other to bring the rollers intoengagement with the signature so as to eject the signature when thesupport has released the same.

22. In a signature opening device, relatively movable opener frames,relatively movable means for supporting a folded signature between saidopener frames, means on said frames for partially opening the signature,means for more completely opening the signature, means for moving'thesupport to release the signature, a second pair of frames arranged toswing on opposite sides of the supporting means, ejecting rollersjournaled in the secon frames, means to rotate the rollers, and meansfor swinging said second frames to move the rollers into and out ofengagement with the signature for ejecting the same when released bysaid supporting means.

23. A si nature opening device comprisable frames arranged on oppositesides of the supporting means, ejecting rollers journaled in saidframes, means for rotating the rollers, means for imparting motion toone of said frames, and means for moving the other of said frames fromsaid first frame in unison and in an opposite direction for moving theejecting rollers together so as to eject the signature when said supportis opened.

25. A signature opening device includ-- ing: a pair of spaced apartpivoted arms adapted to'swing toward and from each other, inwardlyextending overhanging portions formed on the upper ends of the arms,spaced and relatively movable means disposed between said arms forsupporting folded signaturestherebetween in an upright position, meansmounted on said overhanging portions of the arms for partially openingthe signatures while being supported, means movable between said armsfor more completely opening the signatures, and spaced and relativelymovable means disposed between said arms for ejecting the signaturesfrom between said arms.

26. In a signature opening device, swinging members adapted to bebrought together to form a support for a folded paper section, swingingmeans to partly open the section while supported, swinging means formore completely opening the section, means to separate said supportingmembers, and swinging means carrying e ecting rollers to be broughttogether for ejecting the section when said supporting members areseparated.

Signed 'at Massillon, in the county of Starkand State of Ohio, thisfifteenth day of July 191%.

CLAUD D. CURRY. Witnesses:

ELLIS W. COOPER, CHAs. Bum). Signed at New York in the county of andState of New York, this 22nd dayof July, 1914.

FREDERICK W. EWALD.

